Caitlin MacNeal

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Caitlin MacNeal is a News Writer based in Washington, D.C. Before joining TPM, Caitlin interned and wrote for the Huffington Post, the Sunlight Foundation and Slate. She is a graduate of Georgetown University.

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Caitlin

Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who did not attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress, railed against House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) on Tuesday for inviting Netanyahu to speak before Congress.

"That the Speaker of the House of Representatives would allow the floor of this chamber to be used to undercut the negotiations of the President of the United States is partisan, and it is not right," Lewis said during a press conference following the speech. "The Speaker's action is an affront to the President of the United States, to the Democratic leadership of Congress, and the Department of State."

"The unbreakable bonds between the United States and Israel are rooted in our shared values, our common ideals and mutual interests," Pelosi said in a Tuesday statement following Netanyahu's speech to Congress. "That is why, as one who values the U.S. – Israel relationship, and loves Israel, I was near tears throughout the Prime Minister’s speech – saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States as part of the P5 +1 nations, and saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on Tuesday said that she thought Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech was "powerful" but lacked alternatives to the current nuclear deal that the U.S. is negotiating with Iran.

"What he didn't say was what would happen if there was no deal," she said on CNN after Netanyahu's speech to Congress. "And he didn't make a suggestion as to what Israel would find agreeable. He simply said, there's nothing that we agree with here. And then he made a number of pronouncements of terrible things that could happen."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in his Tuesday speech to Congress that Iran is a threat to "the peace of the entire world."

"At a time when many hope Iran will join the community of nations, Iran is busy gobbling up the nations," Netanyahu said, referencing Iran's power in the Middle East. "We must all stand together to stop Iran’s march of conquest, subjugation and terror."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on Monday evening said she would not attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress on Tuesday, becoming the eighth Democratic senator to boycott the address.

"It’s unfortunate that Speaker Boehner’s actions on the eve of a national election in Israel have made Tuesday’s event more political and less helpful for addressing the critical issue of nuclear nonproliferation and the safety of our most important ally in the Middle East," Warren said in a statement to the Boston Globe.